10 Under-rated Movies From The Last 25 Years

10 Under-rated Movies From The Past 25 Years

1. Clerks (1994): It's the perfect definition of an indie movie. Convenience store employee decides there is more out there than being a clerk, so he decides to max out his credit cards, cast his buddies in his movie, shoot the movie at his place of employment, and uses black and white film to shoot a movie about a clerk who doesn't know what he wants from life. Plus this movie brought us Jay and Silent Bob.

 2. Inception (2010): One of the many Christopher Nolan movies that proves that not only is he one of the top directors of his generation, but also one of the best storytellers. The script is the the type of writing that most writers inspire to be. This movie was the mainstream breakout role for Marion Cotillard as well as the re-emergence of Joseph Gordon Levitt. Leo DiCaprio also once again proved his star power by anchoring this cast that also included Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy. This movie had many twists and created conversations among the geeks about whether the dream "suggestions" could actually change a person's life direction and whether it could be used for corporate sabotage.

3. Sin City (2005): In the last decade, comic book based movies have taken off. One of the most famous writers, Frank Miller, created a gritty universe using black and white imagery meshed in with key focal points that are presented in color (e.g. Yellow Bastard is...yellow). The movie is true to the graphic novel because Robert Rodriguez used the graphic novels as his actual storyboards and combining his directorial efforts with Frank Miller himself. This graphic novel turned movie produces an A-list cast that provides drama, action, and sex appeal. Rosario Dawson as Gail and Clive Owen as Dwight McCarthy are one of this generation's best couples.

4. Casino (1995): Based on the true story of Frank Rosenthal and enforcer Tony Spilotro and their involvement with the Stardust Casino (all names were changed), this movie is the best mafia movies from the 90's. Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro's last movie together and another great team up of DeNiro and Pesci, the movie cast almost every mafia looking actor in Hollywood at the time. Almost several hours long, the movie feels shorter and leaves you wanting to know more about those involved. The movie almost leaves you sad to see the end of the mafia era in Las Vegas in favor of a corporation run Las Vegas.

5. Wag The Dog (1997): Another DeNiro movie, this time he teams up with Dustin Hoffman in this political dra-medy. DeNiro plays a man that is the master of spin, creating a false war to through reporters off of a real political scandal involving the President. He teams up with a legendary producer played by Hoffman, to create video images to be leaked to the press. This role for DeNiro was a shift in his career to more light hearted and comedic roles

6. Thirteen Days (2000): This is a political thriller that revolves around one of America's scariest periods in history, the Cuban missile crisis. Thirteen Days centers around Kevin Costner playing unofficial Chief Of Staff Kenny O'Donnell and the way he coordinates between the Kennedy brothers, the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, and members of the Cabinet while the threat of the Russians using their nuclear arms against America via Cuba loomed. Thirty eight years after the incident, the movie builds tension as if you were there in person. Dylan Baker as Robert McNamara was an under-rated performance deserving consideration as a best supporting actor in 2000.

7. The Notorious Bettie Page (2006): The biopic based on the pinup years of Bettie Page is upbeat and portrays Bettie as seeing her modeling as a service or even as an activity that makes others happy. At first she is a little confused on why men would like to see women in leather or tied up. As the movie passes, she embraces her role as a model. The movie ends with Bettie finding church again (she grew up as a church girl) which led to her psychological problems in her middle aged years. Though not particularly looking like Bettie Page, actress Gretchen Mol nailed her smile and mannerisms while the make up artist and costume designers brought her look closer to the queen of pinups.

8. Hollywoodland (2006): Based on the fictional account of the murder investigation of George Reeves and his involvement with the wife of MGM executive Eddie Mannix, this somber toned movie portrays some hope that the real cause of George Reeves' death comes to light through the investigation by private investigator Louis Simo. This movie shows the fans several different possible conclusions to Superman's death including the police ruling of suicide.


9. High Fidelity (2000): Garnering positive reviews and starring John Cusack and Jack Black, this movie based on a best selling book by Nick Hornby never gained the public attention that it should have. Cusack's role of a man tortured by his past relationships was brilliant. He broke down the forth wall to analyze whether he was at fault for his past breakups and shares his love of music along the way. It's one of the few times that the movie watcher can say that the movie is just as good as the book.

10. Alex & Emma: A love story about a writer who is getting over his exotic ex while owing some bad people money. Alex is on a deadline to pay his debts off and has to finish writing his next novel to receive his advance and along the way hires a quiet stenographer named Emma. Gradually as Emma questions his character's decisions in the novel, a character based on her slowly works herself in the novel and gradually becomes closer to the main protagonist as Alex gets closer to Emma. Almost two love stories in one.

A Whole Different Movie

Some movie storylines are so epic, that even if you have never seen the movie, you know what the movie is generally about through some weird form of entertainment osmosis through friends and family. Because of a clever idea and/or a carefully thought out process of writing, legendary movies take the best route to make them extremely memorable to their fans. In some cases, fans become so entrenched in this world of fiction, it's as if nothing else matters to them.

But as with many movies, you can ask, "What if," questions that would dramatically alter the storyline. Something that would suggest that if the movie went another route, it might not as be epic.

1. Star Wars IV: A New Hope: There are several routes that can be taken here. What if Luke Skywalker follows through with his with to join the Imperial Academy with his friend Biggs Darklighter to become a pilot? Instead of flying an X-Wing and taking out the Death Star, he could have been defending it. Maybe he would become closer to his father Darth Vader. It could have been a, "boy meets long lost father," movie instead. Or even what if Luke picks another android instead of R2D2? Would he still remain a moisture farmer for his aunt and uncle?

2. Back To The Future: At the end of Back To The Future when Marty goes back to the eighties, his mom all of a sudden remembers kissing Calvin Klein (i.e. Marty McFly) at the night of her big dance? How disturbing would that be? Would the whole family need counseling? If so, how would you tell the therapist what happened without sounding like you need some time in the looney bin? Would George McFly be angered at his future son? Who knows?

3. Matrix: Well, actually for this one, I'll jump to Matrix: Revolutions which was the third in the trilogy. After leaving the matrix, Neo seemingly has many of his computer world created powers still. What Neo, Morpheus and the other humans never left the matrix? What if it is revealed that the computers pulled an Inception like move and really created a second matrix within the matrix. Meaning Zion would be a computer created city, rather than the last hold out for the humans against the computers. Also, I guess the obvious "what if" scenario that could be, what if Neo picked the wrong pill when choosing between the red or blue pills?

4. The Crow: What if after avenging the death of his fiancee and himself, Eric Draven doesn't return to Heaven? What if he were to become an undead being? A zombie perhaps. No spiritual being actually gave him a rule book of what would happen when the crow brought Draven's soul back to Earth. Draven technically chose the revenge route, but nothing said that the revenge route would be the end of his journey.

5. The Godfather: What if Sonny was never killed? Would he take over the Corleone empire still? Probably since he was next in line and was the son that Vito was grooming to take over. Michael would have never had to kill The Turk and the cop, which means he would have never had to go to Sicily to hide out, which means he would have never have developed an appreciation for his father's lifework, which means he would never taken it upon himself to learn the family business. He would have been a college professor in a small New England town. This was what he was studying to do in the book.

6. Sin City: What if instead of being hot for Dwight still, Gail is angry at Dwight for going away and hooking up with Shellie? She initially is and after Dwight slaps her across the face, they make out so hard that it looks like their in a battle. What's missed is that the movie is based on the graphic novels of the same name and are almost scene for scene the same as the graphic novel. The movie was based on several of the books and even though there are hints of a past relationship with Dwight and Gail, it's not said in the movie how exactly their relationship formed. In one of the other graphic novels, Gail nursed a nearly dead Dwight back to health, despite the fact that old town is supposed to be only resided by hookers. The other hookers were angry at Dwight's presence, but Gail fell hard for him. After healing up, he leaves and hooks up with waitress Shellie, which is where the movie picks up.

7. Field Of Dreams: What if Ray Kinsella is scared of ghosts? After seeing the appearance of Joe Jackson, he is so freaked out, that he bulldozes the precious land that he really needs for his corn crop. Or on another "what if" scenario, what if he loses his farm to the bank? Would he still have run into his father's ghost somewhere?